Well, what can I say? It’s been an amazing year for the squash! In fact, it’s actually my first successful attempt at growing squash and now I’m overrun with them! Continue reading “Oh My Squash!”
Oh My Squash!
Tag: grow your own
How I Made Home Brewed Cider Part 1
Happy Apple Day! Since today is the day that we, in the UK, celebrate the versatile fruit we all love eat, drink and grow, I thought I would share my home-brewing cider process so far. Continue reading “How I Made Home Brewed Cider Part 1”
September Polytunnel Video Tour
I can’t believe it’s September already and the growing season has almost come to an end! I thought I would do one last tour of the polytunnel (below) to show how the plants have progressed with their new support and water systems in place.
Continue reading “September Polytunnel Video Tour”
Allotment Jobs for Autumn
- Pune hedges
- Sow green manure ✅
- Prune herbs ✅
- Plant Spring bulbs ✅
- Remove bindweed (!)
- Collect leaves for leaf mould ✅
- Collect seeds ✅
- Sow lupin seeds
- Pot up strawberry runners
- Tidy the shed
- Tidy the polytunnel ✅
- Consider sourcing farm manure ✅
- Build a hedgehog house
- Harvest squashes ✅
- Remove plants after end of harvest ✅
- Harvest apples ✅
- Make cider ✅
Apple Variety Identified!
I was wrong all along! Well…kind of. Let me explain. I got the keys to my allotment in September 2014 and one of the reasons I chose it was for the apple tree growing at the back of the plot. The first apple I ate was sour and must have been an underripe one because for the last THREE YEARS I thought my apple tree grew cooking apples.
A Place To Sit At Last…
Finally, after having my allotment for almost three years I have a seating area! It’s taken a hell of a lot of deadication and hard work. I set my deadline to have it completed by the end of August and I’ve done it! We celebrated by having a big BBQ over the bank holiday with some of my closest friends, some of which have helped with my epic task.
Continue reading “A Place To Sit At Last…”
Late Summer Evenings
The evenings are getting noticeably darker earlier and there’s a subtle chill and smell to the air as the change in season is underway. The golden hour tonight had the most beautiful warmth and even though I’m frantically preparing the seating area for the bank holiday, I reminded myself that these last few hours of sunlight should be cherished. Continue reading “Late Summer Evenings”
Growing Squash Vertically
The peas were done for as are my shears by the look of them! Rather than pulling them out, I chopped them at ground level for the roots to slowly nourish the soil with nitrogen.
In its place I tied in the squashes and pumpkins that have been growing beneath the pea supports for a month or two. These are the plants that I didn’t have room for in the main pumpkin patch (which is going crazy by the way). The squashes will grow vertically up the frame, saving space and it should also help prevent mildew and pest damage. It seems to be working well for the cucumbers this year!
I also weeded in between the two supports and threw in some beetroot seeds. It’s probably too late now, but what the hey.
Polytunnel Update! [+VIDEO]
It’s been almost a month since my last polytunnel post, when I planted out the tomatoes with string supports. Everything is growing well, the tomatoes are loving their support system and have lots of flowers and fruits. I keep the polytunnel door open permanently to prevent blight even though it’s quite cool. I also feed the tomatoes every Friday with a liquid feed. Check out the video at the botttom of my post for a tomato tour! 🍅😄 I’ve just harvested the first of honeybee tomatoes and they’re so sweet! I can’t wait to try these in a Mediterranean veg tonight.
Flower Friday – Helianthus annuus, ‘Autumn Beauty’ Sunflower
It’s my first year growing sunflowers and they’ve just begun to bloom! I can’t get over the firey red tones that gradient to beautiful shades of orange and yellow 💛 I’ll most definitely be growing these again. 🌻
Homegrown Garden 